Are we about to see a boom in competition? A bunch of space agencies and a few big players are a few years from their man rated vehicles. i can't really explain it now, but I think we're about to see an explosion. I'm going to read more into it and I think I should do a lot more research before I really propose anything. however, I think we're about to see a boom in the space industry and it's going to be bigger then expected.

Indeed we are at a crossroads in human spaceflight and maybe even robotic space exploration.

I think the time might be right to create a Treaty Organization of Space Nations. One with a charter of space exploration and concerted efforts to explore. United States just cannot finance an exploration program beyond the moon.

A new era requires leaving behind the current "Mainframe Era" of space exploration.

After the sense of mission of the Apollo era and the "beat USSR to the Moon" paqssed what exists now is mainly an expensive jobs program for the aerospace contractors and a bloated government agency whose main mission is self preservation.

That horse is dead. We need to quit flogging it and move on. Google the word microlaunchers for an alternative. On the home page of the site is a link to a 2 minute Youtube video that makes the case.

The technology is now in place for a reenactment of what happened with computers in the '70s. There could be a cultural revolution--a new community of space mission planners who explore first the inner Solar System, Moon, then the Main Belt, then...

With spacecraft weighing 100 to 200 grams or so, there can be thousands, at cost low enough and launch opportunities frequent enough to change the space exploration equation.

If there are any of aq perverbial "one in ten thousand" who might take strongly to the idea, please seek out and contact...

Indeed we are at a crossroads in human spaceflight and maybe even robotic space exploration.

I think the time might be right to create a Treaty Organization of Space Nations. One with a charter of space exploration and concerted efforts to explore. United States just cannot finance an exploration program beyond the moon.

I agree, It took 5% of the US federal budget to go to the moon, the US can not, and likely will never be able to afford such an effort again.

Currently RSA, ESA, and NASA are all trying to act as international space agencies, with mixed results. Luckily we haven't had any major disputes in space yet, but unless some form of international space treaty organization is formed, when it happens it could end up being a huge issue.

Some issues that will likely need some form of treaty organization to resolve.

-Property rights will HAVE to be altered when space comes within earth's economic influence, the current triety is just not practical for a true space fairing society.

-Lack of international standards for connections, docking ports, or even communications systems will become a major issue in rescue situations.

-As space becomes more utilized, more nations will want independent access. Just as much as developing nuclear energy enables nuclear weapons, development of space launchers enables ICBM development. IAEA facilitates civilian nuclear power, there might need to be a similar orgainzation for space access.

I hope that some for of Internationale Space Organization can be formed, that facilitates world access to space, without becoming an organization that allows nations not willing to fund programs to get the benefits of the ones that do.

Regardless is gov't space across the globe gets together or a consortium of commercial space companies to explore the solar system, funding seems to be one of the biggest issues.

To help with the funding a systematic plan of exploration combined with technological development and space craft modularity could take us a long way.

For such a plan to work standards need to be defined. Like , docking ports, operational procedures.....etc...etc.

I realize that we as humans never developed a space craft that goes to one destination outside of Earth orbit and returns to Earth orbit without reentry. We're going to need to know how to do that.

Reusing space assets I think is also a key concept. How old are Voyager 1 & 2? 34 years old. And they are still functioning. That is incredible since there has not been any maintenance to them. Why not use that sustainability on hardware to our advantage? We can do that by reusing module that are already in space. This can be automated or robotic operations. For example if you have a tug that can take assets to other orbits and come back. You could probably use that for many years until you upgrade it with a new one. Then there is refueling propulsion systems.

And what about robotics vs human missions? If we are really to go on exploring and taking it to the next level, we have to maximize on robotics to assist key missions for human flight.

Is a permanent crew in space viable? This experiment we call the ISS is the first time we are experimenting with a permanent crewed asset. Cost seems to be very high in supporting this. With Progress, ATV, HTV, STS, we have supported the expeditions of ISS. US wants to replace the support part of STS with SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Orbital Sciences' Cygnus. That's five different cargo crafts, each with their own launcher.

It has dawned on me that part of the cargo are clean clothes for the crew of ISS. That's because we never developed a washing machine in space!

So to me it doesn't seem feasible (funding wise) to keep a space asset always crewed. To learn to do that economically is a very different experiment than to explore the inner solar system with manned craft.

You'de have to make the washing machine be able to waste hardly any water, and clean the water that was used, so that you could use it again . . . Maybe it would be cheaper to send up some soap and washboards . . .

_________________“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Anonymous

You'de have to make the washing machine be able to waste hardly any water, and clean the water that was used, so that you could use it again . . . Maybe it would be cheaper to send up some soap and washboards . . .

Not only would it be cheaper (by probably 6 orders of magnitude!) it would probably be more effective too. Washing cloth ain't that different from washing people and they DO know how to do that. Probably need to be an all-aluminum washboard...hmmm...(heads out to the garage)...

"We can lick gravity, but the paperwork is overwhelming" -- Werner Von Braun"It's all fun and games until the potato chips get loose." (said of the ISS by Gizmodo on space.com)"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A journey of a hundred thousand miles begins with lots of flames, noise and smoke!" -- Emory Stagmer

exciting times, i'm planning on observing the impact out here in ithaca (we'll see whether or not i actually succeed). i think LCROSS is the best mission nasa has flown in years (since spirit/opportunity), and not counting the mars rovers the best one its flown since HST. combination of low budget, exciting science goals, and public involvement is really quite unparalleled.

exciting times, i'm planning on observing the impact out here in ithaca (we'll see whether or not i actually succeed). i think LCROSS is the best mission nasa has flown in years (since spirit/opportunity), and not counting the mars rovers the best one its flown since HST. combination of low budget, exciting science goals, and public involvement is really quite unparalleled.

Sitting in the ops center right now at the moment, listening to planning telecon for last minute stuff. Check my photo blog at http://tinyurl.com/lcross-is-go

"We can lick gravity, but the paperwork is overwhelming" -- Werner Von Braun"It's all fun and games until the potato chips get loose." (said of the ISS by Gizmodo on space.com)"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. A journey of a hundred thousand miles begins with lots of flames, noise and smoke!" -- Emory Stagmer

sweet didn't know the live broadcast started tonight! btw, any idea when the datasets will be released? i want to do an analysis of some spectral data from the plume for a final project but it's gonna be cloudy here and i won't be able to take my own data.